Larry Brooks

Larry Brooks

NHL

Rangers’ Lundqvist heroic as ever, even in defeat

LOS ANGELES — Henrik Lundqvist was not ready for it to end, not this way, not this night, not without a victory and not without keeping alive the improbable dream of winning the Stanley Cup after losing the first three games of the final round.

Improbable was, however, impossible. The Stanley Cup had been awarded to the Kings, who were celebrating their second championship in three years on Alec Martinez’s goal at 14:43 of double overtime to take this spectacular, heart-stopping Game 5, 3-2 on Friday night.

The Cup was on the ice, and the Kings were celebrating. It was 40 minutes after the dagger had been plunged into Lundqvist’s heart, and the franchise goaltender was still wearing his hockey pants, pads and skates. He sat in his stall in the locker room, his hands — left hand still taped — first clasped over his head, then covering his eyes and what had been a vacant stare, the King intermittently shaking his head, perhaps imagining what might have been.

In defeat, this was Lundqvist’s grandest hour, nearly an hour of hockey in which he had made 48 saves and had been a pillar of strength in repelling wave after wave of Kings attacks. But that does not change the outcome. That does not change the fact Lundqvist will go into his 10th NHL season searching for his first Stanley Cup, and the Rangers will start next season 21 years removed from their last title.

Nothing changes that reality for King Henrik.

“I knew going into this series that it would end in tears,” Lundqvist finally said after pausing to collect his thoughts when asked to articulate his emotions. “Tears of joy or tears of heartbreak.

“Right now it’s extremely tough.”

The Rangers came so far over these last two months, so far in taking out the Flyers in seven games, the Penguins in seven after coming back from 3-1 down in the series and the Canadiens in six to claim the Eastern Conference championship.

So far, and yet with so much farther to go, three more victories to go after losing all three games in Los Angeles in overtime, with Games 2 and 5 ending in double OT. So near, but not nearly enough in this final round in which the Blueshirts were consistently outplayed, yet were able to hold on to the glimmer of hope they could pull off a miracle on ice because of the brilliance of the goaltender from Sweden, who did whatever he could to carry the team on his shoulders across the finish line.

“To play a game like this, you hope some guy scores the big goal for you,” Lundqvist said. “It was exhausting to play. … It was exciting to be out there, but sooner or later something is going to happen.”

It was later, and it was defenseman Martinez, who had gotten the OT winner in Game 7 of the Western finals against the Blackhawks, driving the net to put home a rebound of Tyler Toffoli’s right circle drive off Lundqvist’s right pad.

It was later, after Chris Kreider was stoned on a breakaway by Jonathan Quick with 32 seconds remaining in the first overtime, six nights after he missed on a breakaway in the first overtime of Game 2.

It was later, after Rick Nash — pointless in the finals, and all but invisible through most of Game 5 — could not convert from the right circle with a wide open net in front of him at 9:15 of the second OT, his try deflected harmlessly away when Slava Voynov dived and got a piece with his stick.

It was later, and Lundqvist was still in his gear, beaten and unbowed, larger in defeat than in any previous victory. It is a team game, as The King pointedly told The Post on the morning of the final game of the regular season. The problem was Lundqvist was the team far too often in this series against a powerful team with championship pedigree.

“I told you going into the playoffs that I wanted to leave everything out there,” said Lundqvist, whose team was outshot 92-49 over the last two games and 51-30 in this decider. “I prepared so hard for every game, I have never been so tired.

“I feel like I did everything I could in my preparation to help the team win but it was not enough against this really good team. We had to go through so much to get here.”

The locker room finally cleared out, the Rangers proud and stunned, finally leaving their season behind. It was more than an hour after the match had ended.

And Lundqvist was still in his hockey pants, pads and skates, with more saves to be made, more royal heroics to be displayed.

But not this year.